McCarthy relieved with draw

Mick McCarthy was relieved his Republic of Ireland side managed to secure a draw in the wake of the furore surrounding Roy Keane's axing from the World Cup squad.

Matt Holland blasted in 25-yards to cancel out Patrick Mbmoa's first half strike.

"I've had the hardest week possible, but coming into the game was a blessed relief and it's nice to be walking away without being beaten," said McCarthy.

"The game was a great advert for football. In the first half we gave up the ball too easily and their two centre forwards were causing us problems.

"I thought we played far, far better in the second half.

"I give my hearty congratulations and a pat on the back to all the players."

Cameroon coach Winfried Schafer felt the turning point of the match had been Geremi's failure to cash in on an Ian Harte mistake shortly before Holland's equaliser.

"We had the chance to score a second goal but Geremi couldn't take it," said Schafer.

"We had pressure in the second half but then the Irish came back and overall I have to be happy with the 1-1 result.

"Maybe we were a bit too nervous in the second half. We were not relaxed enough.

"The team is a bit down because we were leading 1-0 and couldn't win."